News

Global TV Revenues Rise 13% in Q4'05 on Strong Flat Panel/HDTV Growth; Sony Back on Top (17/3/2006)

DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting and part of The NPD Group, has released Q4'05 shipments and revenues by brand, region, size and resolution for all TV technologies. Shipments for 47 different brands are identified in the report.

TV revenues grew 36% Q/Q and 13% Y/Y to $26.3B to the delight of retailers and TV manufacturers. Driving the growth was increased flat panel and HDTV penetration resulting from their higher average selling prices (ASPs). Flat panel TV penetration jumped from 8% in Q4'04 to 19% in Q4'05 on a unit basis and from 36% to 58% on a revenue basis, causing the blended TV ASP to rise 18% Y/Y to $451. Regionally, Europe enjoyed the highest revenue growth, up 40%, followed by North America, which was up 15%. Flat panel TV penetration on a revenue basis was highest in Japan at 94%, followed by Europe at 77% and North America at 52%. HDTV sales also drove up the blended price; HDTV shipments as a percentage of total TV shipments more than doubled worldwide from 7% in Q4'04 to 17% in Q4'05. It was highest in Japan at 52% with North America at 35% and Europe at 28%. By technology, LCD TVs overtook CRT TVs for the first time on a revenue basis in Q4'05, holding a 38% to 31% advantage on 58% Y/Y growth.

On a unit basis, TV shipments rose 31% Q/Q while declining 4% Y/Y in Q4'05 to 58.2M units. China experienced the largest Y/Y decline due to different seasonality associated with the timing of the 2005 Chinese New Year. Europe had the fastest Y/Y unit growth up 5% with NA up 3%. By technology

-- LCD TVs enjoyed the fastest growth, up 137% Y/Y, boosting their share from 6% to 15% as shown in Table 1. This enabled LCD TVs to overtake CRT TVs on a revenue basis. LCD TVs gained significant share in all regions except for ROW. For more information on Q4'05 LCD TV shipment results, please see "Sony Rises from #4 to #1 in LCD TVs in Q4'05 According to DisplaySearch Report."

-- Plasma TVs grew 109% Y/Y to more than double their share to 3.9%. Plasma TVs had record results and exceeded expectations, but lost share in key size categories and in certain regions on supply constraints. For more information on plasma TV results, please see "DisplaySearch Reports Global Plasma TV Shipments Continue to Exceed Expectations - Q4'05 Shipments Rise 109%."

-- Microdisplay rear projection TV (MD RPTV) shipments grew 52% Y/Y to boost their unit share to 1.6% with Sony accounting for more than one out of every two microdisplay RPTVs sold. North America continued to dominate this market earning an 87% share on a unit basis. For more information on MD RPTVs, please see "Sony Dominates Q4'05 Microdisplay Rear Projection TV Market: 1080p Share Jumps from 7% to 15%."

-- CRT TV shipments fell 15% Y/Y in Q4'05 causing their share to fall from 89% to 79%. CRT TVs accounted for less than 40% of shipments in Japan and less than 65% of shipments in North America and Europe. CRT TV shipments were down at least 11% Y/Y in all regions. Slim CRT TVs and CPT capacity are now being captured in this report with slim CPT shipments nearly reaching 1M units in Q4'05. LGE led the Q4'05 CRT TV market on a unit basis, overtaking Samsung, while TTE remained #1 on a revenue basis.

-- CRT RPTV shipments were down 60% Y/Y and fell from 68% of the Q4'04 RPTV market to 36% of the Q4'05 RPTV market for two reasons. MD RPTVs have narrowed the price gap, and consumers prefer the picture quality and form factor advantages of MD RPTVs. CRT RPTVs were down at least 58% Y/Y in each region. TTE was the top brand on a unit and revenue basis.

According to DisplaySearch President Ross Young, "Now that LCD TVs have overtaken CRT TVs on a revenue basis, the next target for TFT LCD manufacturers is to overtake CRT TVs on a unit basis. With LCD manufacturers continuing to spend more than $10 billion per year on next generation TFT LCD fabs bringing down the cost of larger LCD TVs, it is just a matter of time before LCDs overtake CRT TVs. Furthermore, with CPT capacity declining as manufacturers shut down their unprofitable factories, this time is getting closer and closer as will be discussed at our upcoming US FPD conference, called It's a Flat World After All."

With Sony leading in LCD TVs and dominating in MD RPTVs, it reclaimed the #1 position in total TV revenues in Q4'05. As shown in Table 2, its revenue share jumped from 8.3% in Q3'05 to 14.1% in Q4'05 on 130% growth. Due to its strong Q4'05 performance, it was also #1 for all of 2005 with an 11.0% share. Samsung fell to #2 while maintaining an 11% share. Philips remained #3, Panasonic fell from #2 to #4 on PDP TV supply constraints and LGE remained #5. Due primarily to Sony, the top five brands boosted their revenue share from 47% to 50% in Q4'05, taking share from lower tiered brands.

On a unit basis, LGE reclaimed the #1 position from Samsung with a 9.6% share, up 48% Q/Q. It was #1 in CRTs, #2 in Plasma TVs, #5 in LCD TVs and #8 in CRT RPTVs and MD RPTVs. Even with 28% growth, Samsung fell from #1 to #2 despite being ranked in the top four in each TV technology. TTE gained share due to strength in CRTs, and Sony gained share due to strength in LCDs and MD RPTVs. -0-

To provide more information, data and analysis on the worldwide TV market, DisplaySearch will hold its 8th Annual US FPD Conference in San Diego from March 21-23, bringing together leading TV brands, TV panel suppliers, TV electronics manufacturers and market analysts. Companies presenting on the TV market include keynotes from Panasonic and Sony as well as executives from ATI Technologies, DisplaySearch, Enuclia Semiconductor, Genesis Microchip, LGE, Meko, Micronas, The NPD Group, Plasma Display Coalition, Samsung, Sharp, Silicon Image, Syntax-Brillian and ViewSonic. DisplaySearch's TV market intelligence including detailed shipments, shipment forecasts, costs/price forecasts, design wins and supply/demand can be found in DisplaySearch's Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

www.displaysearch.com